| 摘要 |
1,227,186. Stimulating muscles. NATIONAL RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CORP. 12 Sept., 1969 [18 Sept., 1968], No. 44455/68. Heading A5R. Apparatus for controlling muscles in living animals, including man, comprises a sensing circuit 12, 13 for sensing an electromyographic signal in a muscle, and a stimulation circuit 16 for automatically stimulating the same muscle when the sensed signal exceeds a predetermined level. The apparatus may be used in cases of incomplete nerve injury but is particularly adaptedfor the assistance of incontinent patients and includes electrodes 10, 11 which may be flat plates fitted to an anal plug. vaginal passage or to the perineal skin. Alternatively needle electrodes may be implanted close to the anal canal. The electrodes are coupled to an amplifier 12 and to a filter 13 having a frequency response which peaks between 100 and 200 Hz and falls off sharply below 100Hz and above 1000Hz. The filter output is rectified and, if required, smoothed by a circuit 14 supplying a D.C. signal to a threshold sensitive monostable multivibrator 15. If the sensed signal is above the predetermined level the circuit 15 assumes its quasistable state in which the amplifier 12 is cut off and the stimulation circuit 16 comprising an astable multivibrator, is allowed to oscillate providing 1 to 8 volt square, or other shaped, waves at a repetition rate of 20 Hz or more to electrodes 10, 11. Circuit 16 may alternatively yield bipolar output pulses. At the end of about 10 secs the circuit 15 reverts to its stable state and the apparatus reverts from a stimulating to a sensing mode. Two practical circuits are described, both including an integrated circuit operational amplifier. In the second circuit the electrodes are connected to the operational amplifier via a two stage differential amplifier, and to the stimulation oscillator via an isolating transformer. |
